When I worked for Bill Halldin in the extremely crowded 2016 Assembly District 6 Primary, the team of James Gallagher, Doug LaMalfa, Frank Bigelow and Jim Nielsen – all partisan Republican officeholders came through with huge endorsements for Bill. Jim Nielsen and Frank Bigelow also followed up their endorsements with $4200 checks and assistance with other checks for Halldin’s campaign.

James Gallagher sent some staff who helped us on a few weekends. We had some of Jim Nielsen and Doug LaMalfa’s staff on a few weekends, with a lot on the final days of the campaign. Frank Bigelow’s staff were amazing, they helped us pretty much every weekend after Frank Bigelow endorsed Bill Halldin.

For this blogger personally, it was an interesting study in professionalism. I have been at the throats of several of the people in LaMalfa and Nielsen’s staff for years, yet here we were working together. This was a welcome change from the blood-letting that the GOP in California no longer has the luxury to do. Those that I worked with in the LaMalfa and Nielsen office were professional, polite and assisted Bill Halldin like a professional would do.

My interactions with those working for James Gallagher were even better. I have no negative history with Gallagher as I decided to support him in his primary, breaking traditional political lines in the North State. They all seemed to know, but more importantly their communication and approach suggested that they cared deeply about their district and people in it. Despite my issues with Gallagher on some internal party politics issues or allegiance issues – it is clear that James is an effective legislator with a clear reason for serving. His staff is a reflection of that.

Frank Bigelow’s staff blew my mind. What a great group of people. They even explained to me a few things about El Dorado County politics from a completely different perspective. (For example, having positive things to say about Vern Pierson) Without meaning a slight to the staff of the other three, the Bigelow Staff were almost 100% committed and assisting Halldin’s campaign and I had a lot of interactions with them. Bigelow’s staff were some of the most real people I’ve worked with from a legislator’s office in the nearly 20 years in the political trenches I’ve logged.

When I had interactions with Nielsen and Bigelow during this campaign, it was clear to me they were both trying to figure me out. They both made a lot of eye contact when we were chatting at a fundraiser event for Bill. I usually do not try to hide my feelings about anyone, and I will say that I have come from being hostile towards Nielsen to liking him.

Regarding Frank Bigelow, I did not support him when he ran against Rico Oller. Frank is not as conservative as I’d like him to be. However, it is clear to me that Bigelow is a “real dude”. I can forgive a lot of squishyness when I deal with a real dude. Bigelow’s character is clear as reflected in his staff. In most all cases a legislator’s staff is a reflection of the member. It was good to be able to get to know Mr. Bigelow a bit more. I hope that Bigelow, Nielsen and others would choose to start funding voter registration and other efforts as the dems are overrunning this state.

In this season of Thanksgiving, I’d like to thank the above four for helping Bill Halldin and I’d also like to thank the staff members I got to meet and work with. It was a great experience, here’s hoping that we cross paths on the same side again soon.

Footnote: Kevin Kiley won that primary and ultimately won the general election. The above four did indeed raise money and help Mr. Kiley in the fall as any good team players would do.

Jim Nielsen is another guy that I have been outspokenly critical of. I had been witheringly critical of Mr. Nielsen for talking conservative in the district and being anything but at the capitol.

Here is proof that the Older, Wiser Jim Nielsen has gotten more conservative with age and his actions circa 2013-2014 do not match everything I had learned about him from the years prior.

I have no illusions of ever being on friendly terms with Nielsen or his staff – that bridge was torched years ago. This endorsement is to thank Jim for doing the right thing, not to try to curry favor.

Please vote Jim Nielsen for Senate if you live in Roseville or the surrounding areas.

SACRAMENTO – The California Taxpayer’s Association (CalTax), the state’s oldest and largest organization representing taxpayers, has named Senator Jim Nielsen among its 25 state legislators to receive a perfect score for his voting record to protect taxpayers and oppose wasteful government spending.

“I am honored that the California Taxpayers Association has chosen to recognize me for the hard work I put in every day fighting for taxpayers,” said Senator Nielsen. “We are fortunate to have organizations like CalTax that are continuously working to ensure that more of our hard-earned money stays in our pockets and does not end up being wasted by big government.”

The score was calculated based on Senator’s Nielsen’s votes on high priority legislation identified by CalTax that would have a lasting impact on California’s tax structure, and that would affect economic certainty, equity, transparency and the complexity of California taxes.

Elected to the State Senate in January 2013, Senator Nielsen proudly represents the citizens of Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yuba counties. Jim and his wife Marilyn Nielsen live in Gerber, California. He has two daughters, three sons and three grandchildren.

While neither LaMalfa Nor Nielsen did anything wrong by donating to this, it underscores the need for an investigation.

Doug LaMalfa himself attacked the Placer County Republican Party for its’ alleged (never proven) lack of transparency on the front page of the Sacramento Bee.

I would expect both Jim Nielsen (now a State Senator) and Doug LaMalfa (now a Congressman) to demand an accounting for what happened to the money they donated. They need to demand transparency.

Please also note that both Nielsen and LaMalfa signed emails sent by the Stop SB 48 Campaign, doing what else? Fundraising. (many of us remember them, but I am not sure if anyone saved copies of them)

It is now apparent that real money was raised by the Stop SB48 Campaign, and with the nexus of the pending FPPC complaint and the campaign getting forcibly terminated for failure to file… this should send of alarm bells.

Amazingly enough – we are taking a break from our regularly scheduled beatings of Ted Gaines and Jim Nielsen to thank them for honoring the “No New Taxes Pledge”.

Bill Emmerson, Bob Huff, Jean Fuller and Mimi Walters voted to raise taxes $2.3 Billion and Anthony Cannella Joined them (but, Cannella never signed the pledge).

Most of us would never sign a pledge for anything – but at the same time, Taxes in America are absurdly high and no one can justify with a right mind voting for more funding for out of control government as they behave like alcoholics at a wine tasting.

If you sign something, honor it – otherwise, you show yourselves to have no integrity.

In this case, Ted Gaines and Jim Nielsen did the right thing and backed up their promise.

As a bonus – we also heard some good sound-bytes of Jim Nielsen complaining about all the anti-gun BS going down in the State Senate as well. If Jim Nielsen keeps this up, we may have to start calling him a Conservative…

The occasion was the South Placer Republican Women’s Federated Meeting.

Gentleman Jim was invited to speak by Cindy Rowen the President of the SPRWF. (My wife is the Recording Secretary)

Jim Nielsen gave a rah-rah talk, with some details about some of the machinations about what is happening in the capitol. He talked about water issues and the renewed assault on Prop 13.

He also gave a call for statesmanship and the call to action for everyone to re-engage and help advance the ball. Nielsen recounted the time when he was elected there were 12 Republicans in the Senate and he and someone else defeated Dems and became #13 and #14… getting the GOP back over the 1/3 line.

Nielsen also brought up that we did not lose because of our values and spoke about the platform.

I thought it was amazing to see the dichotomy between Jim Nielsen the speaker and his real record of moving acceptance for the Charles Munger Platform, having his delegates lined up to vote for it and the myriad record he has accumulated over the years.

There is indeed the chance that the Jim Nielsen that negotiated $250 million for dam removal in the “water bond” and who voted for attacks on Prop 13 in the 1980’s has really seen the light.

The problem is, does it matter?

I wanted to believe in the Jim Nielsen that I saw speak. I will give him credit for being much nicer and much more polite to me when I shook his had and congratulated him on his win than Doug LaMalfa who refused to shake hands.

There is a reason why I call him Gentleman Jim. It remains to be seen what he does as a Senator.

… and don’t forget, vote for him when you get your ballot for the Jan 8th Special. He will be GOP Senator #11. (out of 40)